Mordhau
by Persona13
Summary: The murder-stroke. Most monsters call me that now. Given my parentage and siblings, you wouldn't know it. Of course, most of those monsters think that becoming a father has made me lose my edge. If anything, my aim has only improved. Sooner or later, war will be upon us and my girls may be in harm's way. Heh, 'my girls'. It's funny how possessive a person can get.
Good evening, my name is Cain Cipher. Yes, I'm named after that Cain. I personally don't think there's anything very special about me, at least in comparison to my siblings. That said, I did shoot my mother's boyfriend after I learned she drove my father to suicide and survived plague. Still, it is what it is.

You want to know more about me? Well, I'm twenty-two years old with two daughters, both adopted. You may have heard of them, although no one has in this world. Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Testarossa. By the letter of the law, they are my responsibility, but that doesn't mean that I'm their 'real' parents, especially Nanoha's. Fate was opposed to the adoption, but I can't really blame her for that. Little girl is pragmatic though, she knew she would need a legal guardian, if for no other reason than her magic doesn't work. Their devices work just fine, but they can't cast any magic. We've been trying to find out why.

I'm also a demi-god. No, let me stop you right there. I'm not a son of one of the Big Three. I'm a son of Aphrodite. Yeah, the boyfriend I shot was Ares. Got him right in the head. Too bad it didn't do anything but almost get me beaten to death. Hm? You want that story? Well, the short version is that my mother forced my father to commit suicide at Ares' encouragement; I like to hope I'm wrong. I don't know how much, but it was there. I walked in on them having sex when I was ten; imagine my shock when my disappeared mother reappeared, having sex with someone I didn't know-not that I really understood at the time, and my father's dead body on the floor. I reached for his hand, silently begging to wake up. I never did. I took his gun and Ares noticed me. He dared me to shoot him. I did. He beat me half to death. If Lady Artemis didn't choose that moment to arrive, he would have killed me. Despite his status as the God of War, he is a poor fighter, far more arrogant than his skills can justify. He relies on his reputation as the God of War to carry him. Refer to the Illiad for examples.

Why did Lady Artemis come to the protection of a male child? Well, it all has to do with her sphere. Artemis: Virgin Goddess of the Hunt, Childbirth, the Moon, the harvest, wild animals, wilderness-she is under Pan in this regard- and the protector of children. All children are the same in this regard. And even if she only had to protect young girls, she apparently couldn't ignore a single mortal child being attacked by her half-brother and ideological opposite, ignoring the fact that the child's divine mother is watching this happen and wasn't doing anything. After kicking Ares' ass, she took me to her camp and would care for me while I was there. She explained what happened to her Hunters and made me an honorary member, kinda. Most of them don't like me. I didn't stay very long, I knew I wasn't wanted.

I guess my life is mostly my kids right now, nothing wrong with that. I guess I got attached to them in the two years we've known each other and they to me. I make sure they go to school and are well-cared for. I like to think that I'm a good father. I'm not perfect, I make sure to punish them when they do wrong, but the punishment has to fit the crime. I don't have to do that often, they're good girls. Both put on a front of maturity, but that's all it is. Even Fate isn't as mature as she would like to believe; it's buried under a mountain of stoicism, but Nanoha has begun to bring it to light. While she did grow up fast, it could be argued that she grew up incorrectly in her bid to be more mature. She had to deal with Presea and her abuse, torture, and dehumanization. I can't blame her for not having a model for maturity.

"We're home!"

"Welcome back. How was your day?"

"My day was fine, except for English."

"I see. Fate?"

"I was there for Nanoha's frustration in English. I helped her when she started getting dramatic."

"Faaaaaaaate." Poor Nanoha took a hit straight in the pride.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped." Nanoha gave me that look of hers. The look that threatens instant befriending if you are not careful. "Nanoha was never good with writing in the English language." I will prize that look of absolute betrayal for the next ten minutes. It's heartbreaking, really. See, she even started to tear up in that adorably cute way she does when she wants to pull my heartstrings. To bad it doesn't work on me. "So… how does some ice cream sound?" In the time it took me to say the word sound, Nanoha had already jumped in the car, dragging poor Fate with her. "Well, I guess they want to go."

Well, if you would excuse me, I have to go. Those girls will wait for no one.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Cain. It's been awhile."

"Chiron, what brings you here?"

"Cain? As in the first murderer of the Bible?"

"That's the one. Don't worry, I haven't met anyone that fits the definition of Abel." Another demi-god and a satyr. The satyr is usually enough to bring back the young man, so why the complete overkill of Chiron? And the Fury-sorry, Kindly One-I noticed on the way to the museum… What is Hades up to? If the Kindly Ones are being deployed, it may come to blows between the Big Three. I don't want anything to do with THAT sibling rivalry.

I find it ironic that the Gods of Olympus have been affected by the mere mortals, to the point that while they may claim superiority on account of being divine, they have been flanderized over the years. Ares has lost most of his positive traits, Aphrodite is all but the Whore of Babylon-I mean Olympus, and Hades is still the nicest of the bunch. Artemis wasn't affected as much, but her Hunters picked up the slack. Some of them, at least. In every ideological group, there is always one asshole who takes things to damn far. (Even after reconciling with my mother, I know that one act does not change the view of the world.)

That said, Artemis can still be a jerk. See the story of Actaeon for proof. Yeah, the sooner I get the girls back to their own reality, the better. It's been two years since I took them in, and we're barely any closer to finding a way back. They may be stuck here, and I told them as much, but we haven't stopped yet. If the gods plan on starting a civil war, let them. I know they won't leave the mortals out of it, but I'm in no real position to do anything about it.

"Cain, would you introduce me to these two young ladies?"

"Chiron, meet my daughters: Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Testarossa. Nanoha, Fate; meet Chiron Brunner, an old friend of mine."

"You know, I heard you had contracted plague. Since you seem perfectly healthy and not dead, I assume you survived without complication."

"It was touch and go there for a while, but I pulled through. Mom showed up when she heard the news." That got the centaur's attention.

"Well, I'm sure that was quite the story. But first, we have a field trip to get back to."

"Mind if we join you? I did promise Fate to take her to the museum."

"Not at all."

* * *

I keep an eye on the Kindly One as we tour the Greek exhibit. She knows I'm looking at her and also knows why; Nanoha and Fate make it rather obvious. She motions for me to follow her, no doubt wanting to keep Chiron from attacking. "Son of the Lady of Doves, are you aware of the theft?"

"Theft? What theft?" Her eyes burned into mine, searching for any hint of a lie.

"The theft of my Master's helm." Well, shit... Someone stole the Helm of Darkness? That would take some serious ass balls.

"Is anything else missing? Any other symbols from the twelve that you know of."

"Just one. The Master Bolt of the Sky Lord is missing, presumed stolen." If anyone is wondering why she is being so polite, its almost entirely because of the combination of myself and Chiron. The fact that we are directly beneath Zeus' seat of power may also have something to do with it.

"Okay, now, why is one of your standing doing here? Is the helm nearby?"

"Perhaps not, but the thief likely is."

"Who do you think it is?"

"Percy Jackson, son of the Lord of the Sea." And that explains everything.

"Alright, be that as it may, I think he was framed. For one, he didn't react to Chiron's name. Show me one person on this side of the Mist who hasn't heard of Chiron, and I'll show you a liar. Next, I don't think he's aware of his heritage. I know I didn't expect it. Last, he has nothing to suggest that he is anything but a human. If he so much as looked at the Helm or Bolt, we would know about it."

"Framed... someone made a false oath..." I think she stopped listening.

"Alright, lets think about anyone who could stand to gain from a divine civil war." We both think the same thing. The Titans.

"I have to inform my Master. If I find that the sea spawn is innocent, all is well. When I find the guilty party..." Well, that's one potential crisis averted. Time to get back to the girls.

* * *

Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. You shouldn't exist. The Big Three made an oath on the River Styx not to have demi-god children after WW2. I know Thalia Grace was turned into a pine tree when Hades went after her; dick move on his part to punish the child and not the one who broke the oath. I don't think Hades has as much a reason to go after him now, what with a potential Titan mass-escape to worry about, but that doesn't mean that someone won't try to frame him.

This is why I think the age of immortals should end. They're a bit (read: very) holier-than-thou and don't care about the mortals. What is a single mortal life to an immortal? Hell, what's a thousand? A million?

Well, it won't do me any good thinking about it at the moment. Best to let things play out, see what I can do.

"Nanoha, Fate; as you both know, I'm a demi-god. I don't know why I'm just now thinking of it, but perhaps we can get some divine help in getting you home."

"Something's coming, right?"

"Yeah, something's coming all right. A Divine Civil War." I finish loading my dad's Peacemaker and place it in a holster. I then loaded my dedicated anti-monster revolver, a S&W M500, and placed that in another holster. My shotgun came next. All three guns are loaded with Celestial Bronze ammo. Chiron and the Campers insist on learning archery and swordsmanship and the like. Those weapons and tactics are obsolete for a reason, so I never bothered with them during my time there. Nope, I learned how to shoot a gun and learned to shoot well. I still carry a celestial bronze Bowie knife just in case something gets to close and had my big revolvers modified by a daughter of Hephaestus to reduce the recoil. That's about it.

"Lets go." Time to back to camp.


End file.
